So we are past the point where he’s asked and she’s said yes. The parents and friends have all been told the great news that there’s going to be a wedding! The burning question from everyone is, “When is the wedding?” You may have a date in mind or at least a time of year. Often times the “When” is decided by the “Budget”, especially if you are paying for the wedding yourselves. This is where the planning begins. There are lots of places you can save, you can subscribe to my free e-course for some great examples. But whether you are paying for the wedding yourselves or your families will be helping, the most crucial part of the planning is figuring out your budget.

The budget is very important but can also be one of the most daunting tasks to do when planning your wedding. Sitting down with everyone involved and deciding who is paying for what is critical. It helps if you have some idea of what you have in mind and is often the deciding factor when it comes separating the ‘must haves’ from the ‘maybe we can live without that’. You can refer to the The Wedding Checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything while making out your list. I recommend you start with a dedicated notebook to keep all your planning together.

You may want to begin by making a list of your perfect wedding and then you can see if you can make all those dreams come true or if you will have to scale back in some areas. You may be surprised at how many things can be done on a shoe string budget if need be. For instance, choose your wedding day to fall on a Thursday, Friday or Sunday instead of the traditional Saturday wedding could give you some great savings. However, if a Saturday wedding is one of your ‘must haves’, then there are still other areas you can find savings. I’m trying to keep my posts short and to the point these days so, we’ll explore more of those savings ideas in future posts.

::::::::::::::::::::::